Celtic supporters are rather enjoying this season, albeit Sunday’s derby defeat for Brendan Rodgers’s men has rather seen them come crashing back down to earth.
Kicking off a humongous 16 points clear of fierce rivals Rangers, the vast majority of those inside Parkhead were ready to party.
Well, there certainly wasn’t a party mood come half-time, given that goals from Nicolas Raskin and then Mohamed Diomandé had given Rangers a shock 2-0 lead.
However, after the break, quick-fire goals from Daizen Maeda and then Reo Hatate got Celtic back on level terms, threatening a full-scale comeback, only for some calamitous defending to allow Hamza Igamane to snatch a famous victory for the visitors.
In the context of the title race, given that there isn’t one, this defeat matters very little, but it’s still a damaging day for Rodgers, so does he and the Celtic hierarchy regret selling an under-utilised star who could’ve made all the difference?
Why Callum McGregor's Old Firm absence was important
Ahead of Sunday’s Glasgow derby, it came to light that Celtic captain Callum McGregor was a doubt due to a ‘calf injury’ suffered during the Scottish Cup victory over Hibernian a week earlier.
McGregor himself admitted he’d been doing “individual work with the physios”, unable to take part in full training, but was optimistic he’d be fit to feature.
Well, perhaps he was fibbing all along because, when the team news was released at 11:15am on Sunday, McGregor’s name was nowhere to be seen, with Rodgers revealing that his calf had “just tightened up” during training the day before, adding he “didn’t want to take a risk”.
After the match, Rodgers said, during his Sky Sports interview with Luke Shanley, that there’s “no doubt” his team missed McGregor, struggling to cope without his “tactical balance”, forced to “shift a couple of things around” in an attempt to fill his void.
Kieran Devlin of the Athletic believes that McGregor’s ‘leadership’ and ‘quality’ mean he is Celtic’s ‘most important player’, and this assertion was certainly supported by how the Scottish Premiership champions played in his absence.
Of course, replacing a player of his stature is never going to be easy, but did the Celts sell their most natural McGregor deputy for just £830,000?
Celtic's ideal McGregor deputy now starring elsewhere
Tomoki Iwata arrived at Celtic in January 2023, initially on loan but with an obligation to buy of just £838,000, thereby reuniting with Ange Postecoglou, who’d been his boss at Yokohama F. Marinos.
Due to Postecoglou’s previous work in the J League, this was part of Celtic’s Japanese influx at the time; Kyōgo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi were already at Parkhead, while Yūki Kobayashi joined at the same time as Iwata.
Upon his arrival in Glasgow, writer and analyst Stewart Ross described Iwata as ‘quality’ in possession, while Postecoglou labeled him “really committed… with some great attributes”, adding he was “very deserving” to have been named J League player of the season for 2022.
However, Iwata was given very limited opportunities, 24 of his 42 appearances coming as a substitute, totaling fewer than 2,000 minutes, unable to establish himself as a regular under either Postecoglou or Rodgers, largely due to McGregor’s undroppable status.
Thus, few eyebrows were raised, nor questions asked when, last summer, the 27-year-old was sold to Birmingham City for around £830,000, the club thereby essentially making their money back, albeit his performances in the English Midlands may have changed a few minds.
His current manager Chris Davies praised the midfielder for being “intelligent”, adding that “he’s quick across the ground and… sees the game really well”, with the Japan international a key cog in the Blues side currently 12 points clear at the top of EFL League One, having made 36 appearances across all competitions so far.
Meantime, fan pundit Mike Gibbs told Football League World that Iwata’s performances have been ‘absolutely outstanding’, going one further by exclaiming that he has been the Blues’ ‘best player’.
Iwata then garnered wider public attention with this astonishing long-range rocket against Newcastle in the FA Cup, described by Rob Smyth of the Guardian as a ‘monstrous’ strike.
So, let’s assess how Iwata and McGregor compare this season.
Appearances
44
36
Minutes
3,786
2,997
Goals
9
7
Assists
1
2
Interceptions (per 90)
0.6
0.9
Tackles (per 90)
1.1
1.3
% of ground duels won
58.3%
47.9%
Average Sofascore rating
7.43
7.06
As the table outlines, stylistically, McGregor and Iwata are very similar, with the Japanese international actually coming out on top when it comes to interceptions and tackles, on a per-90 basis.
So, while selling Iwata, who Transfermarkt believe has almost doubled in value this season, may not be a season-defining mistake, he certainly would’ve improved Celtic’s chances of a victory in Sunday’s Old Firm.
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